The thing is, pushing the volume too much (compression, limiter etc.) will kill sound frequencies, therefore making it sound “different”. While that sound may be great for some songs, it might not work on others.

The bad thing is that engineers who like the over compressed sound can achieve the exact same sound without making the song louder, but those who aren’t big over compression fans don’t really have a choice if they want to keep the volume up to today’s standards.

Also, I do think that over compressing makes a lot of room for compromises. (compromising sound over volume)

For me music without dynamic is a pink noise. If volume level swings only between 0 and -3 db it’s not for people with healthy ears. I like room and air in music, but to make things louder use rather mix not mastering. Use eq to divide freq between instruments, use sidechain compression to bring up drums, place instruments in panorama, do not overuse reverbs/delays. Mastering is only polishing not holy grail of engineering. And remember also one thing. Radio stations often use broadcasting processors and if your overcompressed material will be played on air it will turn into crappy noise